Indian soldiers and Kashmiri onlookers stand near the remains of an Indian Air Force helicopter after it crashed in Budgam district, outside Srinagar on February 27, 2019. - Officials said an investigation was underway into the cause of the crash, which came as Pakistan claimed to have shot down two Indian fighter jets in the divided and disputed Kashmir region. AFP

Pakistan and India said Wednesday they had shot down each other's warplanes, in a dramatically escalating confrontation that has fueled concerns of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals.Calling for talks with India to defuse the situation, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan warned of the potentially catastrophic consequences should "better sense" not prevail."Can we afford any miscalculation with the kind of weapons that we have and you have?" he said in a televised statement.

Pakistani soldiers stand next to what Pakistan says is the wreckage of an Indian fighter jet shot down in Pakistan controled Kashmir at Somani area in Bhimbar district near the Line of Control on February 27, 2019. - Pakistan and India said on Febraury 27 they had shot down each other's warplanes, in a dramatically escalating confrontation that has fuelled concerns of an all-out conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals. AFP

While both sides have sought to play down the threat of war, the rare aerial engagement over the divided and disputed territory of Kashmir significantly raises the stakes in a standoff sparked by a suicide attack on the Indian-controlled side earlier this month.Pakistan initially said it downed two Indian jets in its airspace and captured two pilots, but later its military spokesman tweeted that there was "only one pilot" in Pakistani custody.India's foreign ministry demanded the "immediate and safe return" of the pilot, calling on Pakistan to ensure no harm comes to him.The pilot "gives Islamabad a key bargaining chip that may affect just how muscular Delhi's next move could be," tweeted US analyst Michael Kugelman.New Delhi also confirmed the loss of one of its planes and said it had shot down a Pakistani fighter jet.In a sign of the deepening crisis, Pakistan closed its airspace "until further notice". At least six airports were shuttered in India, and a vast area north of New Delhi was closed to civilian flights."We do not want to go towards war," Pakistan's military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told a press conference.Ghafoor said the jets had been shot down after Pakistani planes earlier flew across the Line of Control, the de facto border in Kashmir, to the Indian side in a show of strength, hitting non-military targets including supply depots.Afterwards, he said, the two Indian planes crossed the LoC into Pakistani airspace. One fell into Pakistani-held Kashmir, while the second crashed on the other side, he said.He denied initial reports that a Pakistan plane had been shot down, saying accounts an F-16 had been lost were incorrect. (AFP)